The present disclosure relates to device abstraction for managed network devices in an autonomous wireless digital network. In particular, the present disclosure relates to managed network devices, such as access points, which are not configured with static Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, self-assigning internal IP addresses in the absence of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service in a wireless digital network.
Wireless digital networks, including wireless networks operating under Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, are spreading in their popularity and availability. With such popularity, however, come problems of address allocation for managed network device. Specifically, having an IP address allows for configuration and management of a network device by a network user or administrator through a network management user interface. Moreover, each managed network device in a wireless digital network requires an IP address in order to communicate with other managed network devices in the wireless digital network.
Conventionally, the IP address allocation of such managed network devices in an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) network is accomplished through either manual configuration or a DHCP service. First, a network user or administrator can manually configure a static IP address to each of the managed network device in the wireless digital network. Such manual configuration of network devices can be inefficient and prone to errors from, e.g., human inputs.
Second, when a DHCP service is available for the digital wireless network, the managed network device may request an IP address from the DHCP service. A DHCP service automates network-parameter assignment to network devices from one or more DHCP servers. When a network device, which is configured as a DHCP client, connects to a network, the network device sends a broadcast query to a DHCP server requesting necessary information from the DHCP server. The DHCP server manages a pool of IP addresses and information about client configuration parameters, such as default gateway, domain name, the name servers as well as other servers such as time servers, and so on. Upon receiving a valid request from the client device, the DHCP server assigns the network device an IP address, a lease that indicates the length of time the allocation is valid, and other IP configuration parameters, such as the subnet mask and the default gateway. The query is typically initiated by the network device immediately after booting. Moreover, the IP address assignment usually completes before the network device can initiate any IP-based communication with other hosts in the wireless digital network. The DHCP service provides an easy way to assign IP addresses to managed network devices. However, DHCP service is not always available in a wireless digital network and requires additional resource costs.
As an alternative to the DHCP service, Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing (APIPA) is used in certain deployment environments to assign IP addresses to clients. With APIPA, client devices can automatically self-configure an IP address and subnet mask when a DHCP server is unavailable. Specifically, the client device uses APIPA to automatically configure itself with an IP address from a reserved range, e.g., the IP address range from “169.254.1.0” through “169.254.254.255.” The client device also configures itself with a default class B subnet mask of “255.255.0.0.” The APIPA service also checks regularly for the presence of a DHCP server. If it detects a DHCP server on the network, APIPA stops, and the DHCP server replaces the APIPA networking addresses with dynamically assigned addresses. APIPA is typically used in non-routed small scale deployment environments with limited number of clients. However, APIPA is typically used on very limited basis to configure IP addresses for client devices rather than managed network devices, and does not enable a fully operational network.
In addition, stateless address autoconfiguration (SLAAC) is typically used in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) network. With SLAAC, IPv6 network devices can configure themselves automatically when connected to a routed IPv6 network using Internet Control Message Protocol version 6 (ICMPv6) router discovery messages. When first connected to a network, an IPv6 network device sends to a link-local router a solicitation multicast request for its configuration parameters; if configured suitably, routers respond to such multicast request with a router advertisement packet that contains network-layer configuration parameters. In an IPv6 network, the block “fe80::/10” is reserved for IP address autoconfiguration. However, SLAAC does not provide an internal IP address, which is an IP address within an address space reserved for internal network communications, and which is transparent to a management interface at a host coupled to the managed network device through a wired network. Thus, SLAAC cannot provide a simplified and friendly management user interface for network users and/or administrators. Moreover, SLAAC is not feasible in IPv4 networks.
If IPv6 SLAAC is unsuitable for an application, a wireless digital network may use a stateful configuration with the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 6 (DHCPv6) or hosts may be configured statically. Similarly, the issues with DHCP and static IP configuration discussed above in reference to IPv4 reproduce themselves with DHCPv6 and static IP configuration in an IPv6 network.